Revealed: Del Monte Philippines' growers implicated in violent attacks against indigenous activists as attacks against land and environmental defenders escalate

New Global Witness
investigation uncovers the connections between Del Monte Philippines, one of
the world’s biggest and best-known fruit producing brands and major exporter to
the United States, and a pineapple grower, local rancher and current Mayor
Pablo Lorenzo III of Quezon, Bukidnon who activists suspect of ordering attacks
on them.

The food and beverage company failed to identify historic land conflicts and maintained its agreement with Lorenzo despite violence against indigenous activists on his ranches, including the murder of Renato Anglao in 2017.

The investigation follows recent revelations by Global Witness that another major agribusiness company - Dole Philippines - has been linked through its suppliers to allegations of fraud and coercion to remove indigenous people and make way for a banana plantation.

Wednesday 18th September 2019 – A new Global
Witness investigation has revealed how Del Monte
Philippines maintained
an inappropriate business relationship with a Mayor in Bukidnon, Philippines.
This Mayor is accused by local people of ordering attacks on protestors and
threatening indigenous activist Renato Anglao prior to his unresolved murder.

In 2017 Renato Anglao, the secretary-general of TribalIndigenous Oppressed Group Association
(TINDOGA), was shot dead after demanding local rancher and
current mayor Pablo Lorenzo III return the community's land, which
Lorenzo’s company – the Montalvan Ranch – was using for agribusiness
plantations. Nobody has been prosecuted for the killing, in which Anglao was
shot in the head while travelling home by motorcycle with his wife and five
year old son.

The investigation reveals how for many years Del Monte Philippines had a business
agreement with Pablo Lorenzo to grow pineapples for them.

They also employed him as a consultant, and renewed their contracts
with him even after evidence of violence associated with his ranches came to
light and a government
commission backed community claims.

This means they effectively failed to do adequate due diligence before
and during entering into contracts with him and his company. Del Monte
Philippines is a major exporter of pineapples to Del Monte Foods Inc in the
United States. The
company said it had moved to end the growership agreement when it discovered
their supplier was also a public official but had never become aware of the
community claims or violence.

The revelations
follow a recent Global Witness report, which not only exposed that the
Philippines was the country with the highest number of killings of land and
environmental defenders in 2018, but that another major global agribusiness
brand, Dole Philippines, has also been linked via its suppliers to allegations
of fraud and coercion to remove indigenous people from a banana plantation in
Mindanao.

Both stories
highlight how international agribusiness companies are still not doing enough
to avoid conflicts in their supply chains – particularly in countries like the
Philippines, where laws on land and indigenous rights are often not enforced.

“As demonstrated by the allegations of corruption and violence around a
nearby plantation run by global food giant Dole, this story surrounding Del
Monte is, tragically, far from an exception: it shows that corporate greed is
not being held to account in the Philippines, with those standing up and
speaking out being silenced without consequence“ Global Witness Senior Campaigner Ben Leather said.

“It could not be clearer that international companies are still not
carrying out proper due diligence to avoid conflicts in their supply chains –
particularly in countries like the Philippines, where laws protecting land and
indigenous rights are often not enforced. In spite of President Duterte’s
promises to protect citizens from the abuses of vested interests, ‘business at
all costs’ continues as usual, while those standing up for land rights and the
environment are threatened and even killed,“ Leather added.